The Durmstrang-Verse
by SjelThief
Summary: Draco Malfoy once said his father was originally thinking of sending him to Durmstrang, though his mother strongly opposed the idea. What if she hadn't pushed her opinion all that much? What if, instead of going to Hogwarts, Draco went to that faraway infamous Northern Wizarding Institute after all? This, is the Durmstrang-Verse. All aboard the Drakkar!
1. Chapter One

Faint traces of petrichor hung in the air; the smell of dust after a fresh downpour. It was also coupled with the strength of salt water. The smell of freshly-cut grass joined in, the after effects of rain mingling with the wounded grass. She was floating in olfactory bliss. Her quill dancing by its own on the self-scrolling parchment strewn across her stomach. The actual act of writing was sluggish and a hindrance, in her opinion, since it was too slow to keep up with her mind. Her eyes were closed, focused.

She was lying on her back at the end of the docks, legs dangling below. Her slender, naked feet dipped in the crisp salt water as quiet waves nipped at her ankles. Few birds sung around her, but she couldn't hear them underneath the comforting muggle-inspired neo-violin cheerfully singing through her dear headphones.

She felt something gently prodding her side, effectively tearing her from her peaceful bubble. Opening her eyes, slightly groggy from the sleep-like trance in which she had been until then, she watched as a young dirty blond man impassively stared down at her. She held one earpiece away from her head, a single eyebrow raised..

 _"_ Eli _, middagen er ferdig,"_ was the explanation given to her in a deep, mellow voice.

Huh. She was starting to get hungry, now that she thought about it. The sun was still shiny high in the sky, though she knew it was to set sooner or later, leaving the cloudy sky above the fjord turquoise and purple, subsequently painting salt water with these same dusky hues. It was her favourite time of day. She was glad not to live too high north; the midnight sun could not completely ruin her beloved summer evenings.

Eli swiftly sat up, parchment hovering close next to her as it rolled upon itself. The young man, who was only a few years older than her, offered her his hand so she could easily get up from the dock. Quill and parchment landed softly in her hands once she was standing.

 _"Takk,_ Luke _."_

The blond merely nodded in acknowledgement, and the two were off away from the water and towards the modern-looking manor perched atop a short, leafy cliff, through the generous summer blooms and needle-adorned trees. Their short trek was usually quiet, though it seemed that the young man had other plans this time seeing as he spoke up.

 _"Hvilket hus vil du være i?"_ The question was slightly monotone, though not out of ill-will.

The girl didn't mind the broken silence - it was him that enjoyed it the most - and she dreamily answered with, _"Drageflukt, kanskje, samme som Mamma... Men Snøsaga er fint også..."_ It seemed like she hadn't seriously thought about the matter he had spoken of yet. No matter; it wasn't her choice to begin with.

 _"Pappa følte seg ensom,"_ Luke politely countered, an elegant frown marring his brow _._ _"Du må ikke være en Snøsaga, for å lese bøker."_ Silence took over as the eleven-year-old girl nodded, his warning advice sinking in.

Still, Eli shrugged, adding with a slight bite, _"Jeg kan kanskje ikke velge, men jeg kan håpe."_

The young man shook his head, a faint lopsided smile pulling at a corner of his mouth. He ruffled his sister's long hair, earning himself a small _'Oi!'_ of disapproval as she tried in vain to swat away his large hand from her small scalp.

Once inside, the comforting smell of steamed potatoes and lemoned fish made its way to her nose, and she grinned once more as she greedily breathed it in. Eli set her writing supply away before taking her place at the table.

One quick _'vær så god'_ later from her mother, the whole family dug in and animatedly spoke about their day. One _'takk for maten'_ later, the girl retreated to her room and snuggled near her window with the enthralling book she had only recently started reading.

* * *

The docks were incredibly busy, that is, if you compared it with its usual vacancy. Chatter wove through the mellow, salty air and few dozens of people. Children waved goodbye to their parents or exchanged heartfelt hugs. Shrunk luggage diligently followed behind children and teenagers alike, though went their own way once they were close enough to the huge ship - the Drakkar, if nitpicking is allowed.

 _"_ Eli _, kom igjen,"_ Luke spoke up, tearing the girl away from her still observations. He knew her sister well enough to tell she could just stand there and people watch for hours on end. She did so each year, though she never actually left with him before. _"Jeg skal gå min egen vei etterpå."_

Eli nodded, ersonnable, knowing this was bound to happen. Her brother had his own friends, even though they also got along great with her. _"Jeg skal gå og plage noen annen, da,"_ she cheekily replied with a soft smirk.

Her older brother chuckled at her sass, so did her father. Her mother hugged her one last time, a proud smile plastered onto her face, before she grabbed both her shoulders and squatted down to be eye-level with the short girl. She winked, kissed her cheek and let her go, thought not before she whispered an encouraging _"Lykke til"_ in her daughter's ear.

Once their own family goodbyes were said and done, Eli and Luke headed towards the huge ship's entrance. It smelt the sea. True to his word, her brother bifurcated right after a few minutes, though not before encouragingly patting the first year's shoulder a few times. The corridors had no windows, yet small orbs of grey light illuminated them brightly. She knew the different sections were coloured with their house's hues, though the first years' was simply wooden. A single swirly number shone softly on each door.

Four... Three... Five... Four... Four... Five... One... Three...

Wait, one?

Eli had been prepared to bother two, maybe three people, this far away along the Drakkar's line. She certainly wasn't going to complain about avoiding to bother a blooming friendship, yet she couldn't help but wonder why her fellow first year was alienated like that. It didn't make much sense.

She deeply breathed in, nervousness halting her cheekiness. She had never had to make friends before, her brother and his own friends had always included her with them. Steeling her resolve, she raised her knuckles to softly rap against the cherry wood of the door. Hearing a muffled 'Yeah', she slid it open, meekly popping her head inside and asked, _"Unnskyld, kan jeg sitte her?"_

The boy in front of her had slicked his short platinum hair back and was staring back at her with slightly bored grey irises. "I don't speak whatever," he quickly warned with a smooth accent, annoyance drifting through his tone as if he had been repeating that all day. He almost sounded apprehensive.

"Good thing I also speak English, then," she shrugged, her accent somehow mirroring his, though swiftly smiled as she slid the door closed behind her, taking it as an invitation. The language barrier couldn't have been the only thing keeping people out; purebloods learnt British English at a very young age. Durmstrang's classes were offered in English, considering most students came from various European countries. Still, she sat down across from him, leaning on the large window. "Are you British?"

"Good sense of deduction," was nonchalantly thrown her way. She resented that, though she figured him clueless regarding the school's extensive attendance range. "I'm Draco Malfoy," he introduced himself as he extended his arm for a handshake with a small smile he knew didn't appear as false as it felt. He seemed like he was bracing for her to ditch him any moment.

Perhaps that was exactly what had been happening to him, Eli thought. It was too odd, and quite sad now that it had crossed her mind. She started at his hands for a few seconds, taken aback by the how uptight was the whole situation. They were just students, not meeting the royal family!

"Ellisif Bondevik," the girl still politely replied, smiling, as she accepted his rather firm handshake. British people were so... formal. Too formal. "Eli, for short."

This weird formality might something that was ticking people off. There was a reason why that other school, Hogwarts was it? practically only had British kids there: the suffocating formality.

The boy slowly nodded, leaning back into his fluffy seat. The Drakkar slightly dipped, and the window slowly started to sink below the blue water's surface. A white jellyfish puffed away from the glass, running scared. Silence awkwardly weaved itself in between the two, as they looked out underwater.

"In which house would you like to be?" Eli softly broke out, still looking out the window, fascinated

Draco glanced her way, an unnoticed smirk slowly stretching across his lips, before he smugly answered, "Draygueflewkt."

The girl chucked, amused, before she cheekily corrected his butchered pronunciation with "It's pronounced Drahgehflukt." She looked back at the boy, ignoring the wounded glare he sent her way as she enthusiastically added, "And me too!"

Draco smiled at that, a response at the ready, yet the compartments door harshly opened. A dark redhead popped inside, grinning away wildly as he warmly boomed, _"Du!"_

 _"Hei,_ Bjørn _,"_ she greeted back with a soft smile.

Bjørn sported black trousers, a crimson button-up shirt and a simple, slim black tie, all of which partially hidden under a black cape lined red on the inside. Eli would later tell Draco that this was one of the many versions of the school's uniform, though the colours obviously varied depending in what house you belonged.

"Lukas told us it was finally your first year!" the redhead bellowed, already in English mode, sitting down next to the young girl. "You have no idea how many noobs I've freaked out before I found you," he chuckled, leaning back in the seat, friendlily draping an arm around her shoulders. "Who's your new friend?" he inquired as he finally noticed the Brit carefully staring at him.

"Draco," Eli started, before she turned to said boy and added, "This is Bjørn, my older brother's best friend. He's in Raskhavørn, going into his third year."

"Proudly, might I add!" he jibed with a warm smile. The two caught up a bit, obviously getting along perfectly well. Then, Bjørn clapped his hands together once and said, "I'll leave you two lovebirds to it." As he strode out of the small room, he chipped in with, "I'll see you at the after-party, eh?"

"Ja!" the girl piped up, and the door slid closed behind Bjørn. Eli shook her head as she let a small laugh escape from her lips at the sight of Draco glaring confusedly at the door.

His gaze darted towards her at the sound. "What's wrong with you?" he tried to sneer, though his confusion discredited most of his attempt. He then rebuilt his attack stance as he added, smirk, "First name basis? You're already in love with me, I see?"

This only made her laugh more, while Draco's - Malfoy's brow twitched furrowed for a fraction of a second. "Sorry, I forget Brits are touchy about their names," she apologized, though honestly didn't seem all that apologizing. "Still, you're an individual, not your family," she added, shrugging.

The Brit started at her for a second, clearly not expecting that answer. He then shook his head, though something flashed behind his eyes as he said, oddly cheerful and calculative, "After-party, eh? What kind of party?"

It was Eli's turn to smirk, though she hid it underneath a sad smile, understanding full well where he was going with that. He thought it was a private party of some sort, most likely. She nodded as she softly lied with, "Ooh, very exclusive, sorry."

Actually, it was mandatory.

Malfoy and Eli didn't stay alone for too long after that. Moments after the Drakkar had reached its next stop, their compartment's door carefully slid open. A chocolate-haired boy popped in with a kind smile.

 _"Hei!"_ he enthusiastically greeted the two of them, taking a seat next to Malfoy.

Eli greeted him back, only to add, " _Han kan bare snakke engelsk,"_ as she gestured with her head the platinum blonde, who silently frowned.

The newcomer nodded and turned to him with curiosity etched into his soft, weirdly feminine-like features. "Are you British?"

"Why do you people keep asking me _that_ first?" was all he replied, though the soft accent rolling off his tongue quite confirmed that previous assumption. "What happened to names?"

Eli shrugged her shoulders, contributing with, "Clashing cultures?" with a small, albeit warning smirk. She turned to the other. "I'm from Sør-Trøndelag, and I guess you're from Nord-Trøndelag?"

He nodded with a sharp, inhaled _'ja'_. "I'm Ole."

"Eli."

"Draco Malfoy."

* * *

 **Author's note:** **I will be taking many liberties with this story, mainly because I have fleshed out the entirety of Durmstrang Institute with what I noticed or experienced with Norwegian culture. The school's supposed to be somewhere in Scandinavia, so I'm in the clear as far as I'm concerned.**

 **I will try my best to keep the characters (ie Draco) in character, though he** ** _is_** **only child that, in the original, had no culture shock and was dead jealous of Harry Potter. I will do my best to make how he grows up realistic in Norway, far away from the boy-who-lived, from his arrogant, snotty personality in the first book into someone else.**

 **Criticism is greatly appreciated, thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter Two

With a slight jolt, the mythic ship fell to its ultimate stop. The three first years filed out of their compartment, mingling amongst their peers if a little anxious. The first years' section's exit faced an alternate way from the others, making it practically impossible to get lost. Once out, most of the students murmured in awe at the magnificent building in front of them.

The late afternoon sun shone high through numerous clear windows, all the while illuminating the snowy, ultra modern-styled building tranquilly towering above them. Strong wooden features, reminiscent of dark chocolate in colour, gave the school an exquisite charm as trees and leafy plants seemed to be growing out of the building itself. The new students were obviously facing the building sideways, but it didn't make it seem less overwhelming in the least. In fact, it merely gave it more depth. One quick look around could make one wonder if they were on an island, for clear blue water swirled in every direction away from them and small, also modern-looking houses dotted both the shoreline and the leafy hills of the surrounding mountains.

A young enough-looking wizard, who had introduced himself as Jonas and from Trondheim, enthusiastically greeted them and followed with the basic general rules of the place. He also assured everyone would find their flats fully-furnished, earning him a confused frown from Malfoy. He also mentioned full sets of uniforms would be conjured up to their closets as well as their luggage once their house have been determined. He had short, curly brown hair and bright green eyes, while he sported a neat red and black attire.

"Now, I know most of you must be nervous about the Sorting, but don't be! It's rather simple really. Some of you may know that most wizarding schools have special enchanted clothing that decide which path your future will follow. Here, at Durmstrang Institute, we do not use this mistake-prone method.

"Also, instead of foolishly categorizing you depending on your personality, we pride ourselves in doing so by your predominant values. Not only does that bring more harmony within your house with less clashing personalities, it also binds the houses closer together as strong friendships most often cross over that arbitral house boundary.

"Now, what about a quick review of our four available houses? _Ja?_ First, there's Drageflukt, dragon-flight, that likes ambition, drive, and leadership. It's colours are blue and silver. Then, Fjellelg, mountain-elk, for kindness, compassion, empathy, family, stuff like that. Green and bronze. Snøsaga, snow-story, values independence, knowledge and order. White and gold. Last is Raskhavørn, quick-sea eagle, that prefers justice and strength, amongst others. Black and red." He paused for a second, though his previous, calm speech had been delivered without so much as a short intake of breath that Eli had amused herself with the thought that he didn't even need to breath in the first place.

"All you need to do for the Sorting is to smile, if it isn't too much to ask, in front of a reflectionless mirror. What's most important, though, is gently touching the glass with a few fingertips until the surface ripples." Jonas stopped once more for a dramatic effect that only worked half as much as he would have liked in order to cheekily add, "You'll know what to do next." He then looked around, softly smiling. "Nothing to worry about, though," he added. "Well, follow me, first years!"

And follow him they did, slowly, all the while marvelling at the expertly woven combination of wizard-made architecture and rebellious mother nature. They passed through was seemed to be a secondary entrance as they were ushered to where everyone assumed to be the Great Hall. Malfoy unconsciously stuck close to Eli and Ole, the only people he knew so far, while the other two simply exchange gleeful grins; they'd been waiting for eleven years to finally get here!

A few minutes trickled by before they stood on an elevated glass platform overlooking the busy Great Hall, the Sorting's introduction much shorter this time around. Four long tables of solid blue, green, white and black respectively stretched far way in front of them as the sky filtered through a gigantesque skylight up above. The tables' covers matched their houses' second colour, a dull, smoky-metallic hue tinting them. Every head was turned towards them in anticipation, and some even whistled.

The Mirror was on the platform's other side, facing the first years. It was softly emitting clouds of frost. Jonas was by its side, a his smile practically warm enough to melt the icy thing down. A scroll was floating in front of him, and after a quick glance at its top, he calmly sung out, "Karen Alstad!"

The blonde girl in question, who had obviously been anticipating the possibility of being called first, calmly strode away from the group of first years. Some people clapped to encourage her. She still shyly glanced at the tables, on her right, before burning her gaze onto the mirror. No one but Jonas (and perhaps the mirror itself) saw her tentatively smile at the lifeless mirror, though everyone near saw how shaky her hand was as she softly pressed her fingertips against it. After a short while, part of the shy clouds turned golden and snaked around both the mirror and the girl for a few seconds, only to write in neat, wide golden cursive _'Snøsaga'_ in the air for everyone to see. The white table cheered and Karen quickly made her way to it, grinning, taking the first seat she saw. The letters slowly vanished and the fog turned back into its former chilly grey.

"Eirik Andal!"

Eirik, standing straight, quickly walked over the mirror with a grin that split his face in two. Almost the same thing happened to him than Karen; the smoke changed colours, turning black and red, though instead of immediately twirling around and writing the word _'Raskhavørn'_ , it imitated fire for a few seconds, spreading halfway across the platform and the name of his house was left as blazing frost letters. The black table roared to life, and Eirirk proudly strode over to it. The flames were then dowsed icy grey once more and mostly vanished.

"Ellisif Bondevik!"

The young girl felt her heart leap in her chest. A few whistles and cheers came from somewhere in the Raskhavørn table -most likely by Bjørn's prompting- but encouraging clapping was also heard from the Drageflukt and Snøsaga tables as well. She was mentally cursing her brother and his friends for the extra attention.

Still, she took a deep breath as she headed towards the gorgeous mirror. She noticed the exquisite forms of dragons and flowery leaves skilfully carved into the bluish metal, and a soft smile crawled onto her lips as she imagined the care that must have been given to this vital instrument. The dirty blonde deeply inhaled once more, exhaling sharply afterwards, as she gingerly pressed three fingers on the still glass. She noticed ripples after a few seconds, though when she tried to take her hand away, Eli realized her fingertips were glued to its cool surface. She momentarily frowned, then realized the ripples were just a reply to her touch, and the mirror needed more time to pick out her predominant values. It didn't take a second for the others before her, why would it for her? She smiled again, hoping to see the frosty fog turn blue and silver soon.

She then felt some unknown force gently probe around her mind, almost shyly. Assuming it was the mirror, she not only let it in but also lifted the fog from the forest of her mind to make it easier for it to find its way, as her brother had pre-emptively taught her a while back. It retreated soon later, content, and her pulse raced in thrill as the frost indeed turned blue and silver. It rose high above her head and turned into a slender frost dragon, silently roaring in pride as it flew around the glass platform.

Eli grinned at the sight, and she spared a glance in both Draco and Ole's way, beaming at them. Malfoy's features quirked into a smirk, while the other first year gave her a gleeful thumbs up. The dragon stopped in the middle of the platform, hovering in mid air, its slim body gracefully contorting and swirling into _'Drageflukt'_ as said house burst into elated applause. Again, someone in Raskhavørn whistled. Eli, standing straight and proud as a newly-crowned queen in the adrenalin of the moment, made her way to the blue table where she finally noticed her brother and some of his friends had also pre-emptively taken the seats closest to the first years' free space. She sat down next to them and looked back up at the glass platform, smiling at the congratulations that were sent her way. She grinned wider when her brother affectionately - and proudly - patted her on the back.

"Grethe Brekken!"

And first year after first year, the mirror found a unique way to spell out into which house the newcomers would be sorted. It was the best thing about the start of school, in most of the returning students' opinion. Elli watched as a few bronze and golden birds flew into a sweet _'Fjellelg'_ formation, or as a geyser erupted from the ground, only for the expelled golden 'water' to spell out _'Snøsaga'_. Then his was Malfoy's turn to be called.

Eli had saved a seat for him, seeing as he was hoping to also join her new house. She watched as he fearlessly walked up to the mirror, a self-satisfied smirk plastered onto his features. She raised an eyebrow at that; sure, he smirked and passed the occasional arrogant comment when they had talked in the Drakkar, but just this odd smirk broke his record thus far. He unceremoniously jabbed his fingers on the glass, and seconds later, blue smoke erupted from the mirror. She watched, fascinated, as it weaved in with silver snakes that were floating in midair, only for them to slither into _'Drageflukt'_.

Malfoy smirked at himself and climbed down the short stairs, making his way towards the blue table. He noticed the free spot beside Eli and strode confidently towards it, greeting her with, "That went well," as another first year was called to the mirror.

She nodded, absent-mindedly inhaling a sharp _'ja'_ , unaware of the curious glance her brother sent her way. Of all the people that could have been on the Drakkar, had she seriously fraternized with the one kid dangerously absorbed into his own ego? Why hadn't she noticed it before?

"There's still Ole left. I hope he gets to be in Fjelleg, like he hoped," the girl countered with a lopsided smile. One smirk wasn't enough to condemn him, she must just be overthinking things. It happened quite regularly to her. "Congrats, by the way."

"Oh, it's like Slytherin here," he immediately shrugged off, ignoring the part about Ole. Eli's eyebrow rose in response, and so did her brother's, though Malfoy hadn't been looking their way so he didn't notice. "My family has always been in Slytherin-"

"Hogwarts this, Slytherin that," Eli curtly cut him off before he could start another obnoxious rant of his - the Drakkar ride had been punctuated with them, though he didn't seem nearly as arrogant as now. Just what was up with him? "This is Durmstrang, in case you hadn't noticed. How long as it been since you found out you'd be coming here? a week, two tops?" The blond boy turned to glare at her, about to retort to her perspicacity, though she swiftly added, "Norway isn't like England, Malfoy; stop acting like it is."

"Malfoy?" was all he replied with a paled voice, a blonde eyebrow raised. It seemed he had been expecting her to use his first name, like she had done before. His response was met with deaf ears as Ole was called to the mirror. Seconds after the Norwegian's touch, the mirror's fog turned milky green and bronze. The latter colour sprung upwards while green wound around it, blooming into soft leaves. The bark quickly vanished and the remaining leaves spelt out _'Fjellelg'_ before they, too, vanished. With a soft grin, Ole headed towards the cheering green table.

There were a few more people called before the Sorting came to a cheerful conclusion. The headmaster, a kind, smile-wrinkled elderly woman gave an encouraging welcoming speech, one Eli barely registered because she was longingly fixating on the fuming, deliciously marinated salmon that had just appeared inches away in front of her.

"How was your sail?" Lukas asked his sister, gently prodding her arm with his sharp elbow. "Did you successfully bother anyone?" His voice was as calm as ever, but she could feel the smugness lurking underneath the sheet of ice coating his words...

"Fruits of my labour, Luke," she dryly replied, pointing at Malfoy with her thumb. "But there's also this really nice guy that just got sorted into Fjellelg," she immediately added, suddenly much more chipper.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, though wisely decided to keep quiet. It seemed he decided to observe the dynamics of his new house, noticing that his oddly charismatic arrogance would get him nowhere in this blasted school. Eli liked to think that was what was on his mind at that moment, anyways. Oh, and also she dearly hoped he was devising a useless plan to get invited to that super exclusive after-party that wasn't mandatory at all.

He wasn't making much progress with that new attitude of his.

* * *

 **Authors note:** **I know it can be confusing at times with all the different terms and stuff, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask way! :)**


End file.
